This is our first month of collecting rent on our first rental property. Rent is due on the 1st of the month, which on this month fell on a Sunday (9/1), then followed by Labor Day (9/2).
I called our property manager on 9/2 and he said he wasn’t expecting payments on time being that it is a holiday week and wasn’t sure if rent payments had come in yet.
Being that it is our first month with inherited tenants I want to make sure things go smoothly and we are enforcing our lease, but I do understand that banks are closed these days.
If the rent has not yet been paid and they come in today, Tuesday, 9/3, would you consider that late? In general, do you consider it late if the 1st of a month is a Sunday and the payments come in on the 2nd (Monday)? I don’t want to be unreasonable but I just want to make sure we are doing the right thing on our first go around. Thanks!
@Theresa Harris is right on. Most of my stuff is low income and they all take advantage of the grace period in the lease which in my case is the 5th. With low income I know if they don’t pay by the 5th I’ve got a problem because they can’t afford the late fee. The $1500-2000 tenants on the other hand pay early every month.
Why pay your PM if you’re going to do work? Either let them do it or do it yourself. You’re micro managing your manager. Stop that.
@Account Closed Let your property manager handle it as that is why you pay him. Rent is due on the 1st regardless if it is a holiday or Sunday. Read the wording of your lease as it seems that many people on BP don't charge late fees until the 5th.
@Theresa Harris is right on. Most of my stuff is low income and they all take advantage of the grace period in the lease which in my case is the 5th. With low income I know if they don’t pay by the 5th I’ve got a problem because they can’t afford the late fee. The $1500-2000 tenants on the other hand pay early every month.
Why pay your PM if you’re going to do work? Either let them do it or do it yourself. You’re micro managing your manager. Stop that.
@Lucas Carl @Theresa Harris thanks! I definitely do not want to micromanage and am more than willing to let the PM do his thing because I do trust him - just curious as to what other people consider “late”.
There is a grace period typically. So if Due on first and late on 6th, they will typically pay on the 5th. If the 3rd, 4th, 5th are holidays and weekends they need to ensure you have it by the 5th or it is late so they may have to pay on the 2nd to get it in on time.
As others have said if you are paying a PM let them handle this and don't stress over things like this.
Your property manager should have methods of rent payment available to the tenants that is not influenced by holidays; mailing in a money order, paying through on online portal, etc.
Beyond that, what's "late" is governed by the lease. As many have mentioned, a grace period is customary, usually 5 days.
We provide a 3 day grace period as a lot of property managers do. However if this is not outlined in the lease a late payment is a late payment. Does your PM not have some type of online payment application? If not maybe suggest this and write it in the next lease. The online portals automatically apply late fees etc when payments are not made when specified.
I receive all payments electronically, so mine is due on the 1st and late on the 2nd. However, as others have said above this is dictated by the lease. I do have out of state property managed by a PM and their lease agreement is a lot more lenient than mine. Their rent is due on the 1st with a 5 day grace period. After that they get a small late fee and start adding on daily late fees after that. (I personally don't like that method, but that's their thing). Several landlords that take check payments required checks to be post-marked by the day it's due. So as long as they sent it before the 1st they would be good.
It all just depends on the lease agreement that the PM has in place with the tenants.
FWIW, tenants only have 5 BUSINESS days from the 1st of the month to pay rent if they're paying via social security. We've had a few tenants act like Google Lawyers and try to tell us they have 5 business days to pay rent and the holidays don't count.
My rents are due on or before the the first day of each month, no allowance for holidays. If rent is not collected, on the 2n day of the month the front door will be posted with a three day notice to vacate, on the 5th day eviction process is started. If these time lines are followed they will be out about the first week of the following month.
If I show up to post the door and if they have the rent, I generally will not charge the late fee, 10% of rent due. If tenant does not have the rent, he now owes his rent plus a late charge, in total. If the tenant hasn’t paid and the eviction is progressing and he wants to stop the process he will owe rent and late charge and my filing fee, generally $50.
We sometimes make allowances for some folks that receive retirement checks on the 3rd or they get paid on the 5th and 20th, but that can cause problems because it does not meet state guide lines. It is our discretion and for good tenants who have established a good rental history. We will also some times give some allowance if they called several days before the rent was due and informed us that they will be late, maybe 7 days, but then again, it messes up the eviction timetable.
If your property manager is responsible for the rent payment collection, ask him to solve it. And you should also check this information from your lease. Some people allow grace period after the payment due date.